SkyFlyer 0 #1 July 23, 2003 This may be old news to you guys... but check out today's "USA Today" in the Life section for a cool article on wingsuits in the new Tomb Raider movie. 733. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #2 July 23, 2003 Old news, yes, but the article isn't, which is far from accurate! QuotePosted 7/22/2003 10:26 PM 'Croft' stunt soars to new heights of reality By Karen Thomas, USA TODAY One of the most jaw-dropping stunts of this summer's crop of action flicks isn't a stunt at all. It looks more like the latest extreme sport to hit the USA. People actually fly in Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, which opens this weekend. No cables. No camera tricks. No blue screens. Just a weird yellow suit with silk sewn in between the legs and along the arms to create wings. Director Jan De Bont was searching for an original escape scene for the Tomb Raider sequel when he came upon "a little tape of these two crazy Swedish sky divers ... who had done one jump from a mountain" in the wing suits they had designed. "I said, 'Can you guys jump from a building?' " Croft (Angelina Jolie) and her sidekick, Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler), reach the top of Hong Kong's Two International Finance Center skyscraper with the bad guys in pursuit. Their stand-ins, jumpers Per Eriksson and Martin Rosen, don the winged suits and jump off the building's 84th floor (1,000 feet high). The pair glide several miles between skyscrapers before they unleash a small parachute to land on a freighter in Victoria Harbor. Eriksson and Rosen practiced for months and jumped 28 times from the building. There were many unexpected difficulties, De Bont says. For instance, most skydiving scenes are filmed by a third skydiver who wears a camera on his head. But the helmet-cam skydiver weighed significantly more, so he dropped much faster than the jumpers in featherweight flying suits. The crew ended up filming from helicopters — another difficulty, because the slightest wind gust can send the jumpers into an unexpected direction. The suits are intended only for low-altitude jumps, De Bont says, and allow a wearer to glide for about 3 miles. The suits are equipped with only one parachute — no backup. Jolie, an accomplished skydiver, asked several times to try out the flying suit. "But because of insurance, they didn't let me do certain things," she says. "That upset me." Says De Bont: "I said 'no way.' The studio would kill me." The actors did wear the suits for a scene in which they sprint to the edge of the building. That, too, created a moviemaking problem. "They looked really funny, like a couple of ducks waddling," De Bont says. The suits were modified with zippers along the legs so the actors could get a solid action-flick stance going before takeoff. That, De Bont says, "is the only thing that isn't real." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gus 1 #3 July 23, 2003 Quote"They looked really funny, like a couple of ducks waddling," True, true. GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeedToJump 0 #4 July 23, 2003 QuoteThe suits are intended only for low-altitude jumps, De Bont says, and allow a wearer to glide for about 3 miles. 3 miles from low altitude? Where can I get me one of them?Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #5 July 23, 2003 QuoteQuoteJolie, an accomplished skydiver quote] Could be true. From http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/410/410088p1.html ***Q: Lloyd showed us the skydive sequence. Now what were you thinking about doing that scene? Did you actually get to go up to the top of the building under construction? JOLIE: Uh huh! Yeah, I think everybody's got their things that make them uncomfortable ... I happen to be personally very happy when I'm dealing with heights. Which is fortunate for this. So I loved it. I thought I was lucky that I got to get [up there]. (She motions with her hands as if to exemplify being close to the edge of the building's edge.) There were a lot of issues about me going too close to the edge and all that. Q: Have you ever skydived apart from working on a film? JOLIE: Yes. Pretty amazing. Q: Did you want to do that base-jumping yourself? JOLIE: (She laughs.) Yes. Q: Had you brought it up that you'd like to do it? JOLIE: I'd just like to do it. But ... certain aspects of that are a real skill, and there's permits and everything. So, part of a dive I might be able to do, in a different way outside of getting in the air one way or the other. Q: What did they say when you asked them to do it? JOLIE: I think they expected that of me. And they just said, "Can we talk about it later, please?" And, "Can we just, um, get off the building!" (She laughs.) Also found a quote from Jonny Lee Miller (one of Angelina's ex's) but he doesn't sound a very experienced jumper :-P QuoteHOBBIES - Besides the skydiving and Aikido, he runs two half-marathons a week. He says of skydiving: 'If you jump out of an aeroplane, you're gonna die. You will die. If you panic, you will die. The buzz is then executing the procedures to prevent your death, using your equipment properly. If you jump at 10,000 feet, you've got about 30 seconds before you need to pull your chord, and then you've got about another 10 seconds before it'll be too late.' (Night & Day) Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #6 July 23, 2003 QuoteIf you jump at 10,000 feet, you've got about 30 seconds before you need to pull your chord, Anybody who says they skydive and then uses the word chord to descibe pulling is either full of shit or a tandem passenger........every real skydiver knows it a string, first you do a trick then you pull your string."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gus 1 #7 July 23, 2003 Where do you get those wonderful search results? Not sure you can trust the promotional blurb and biogs. GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leroydb 0 #8 July 23, 2003 Croft (Angelina Jolie) and her sidekick, Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler), reach the top of Hong Kong's Two International Finance Center skyscraper with the bad guys in pursuit. Their stand-ins, jumpers Per Eriksson and Martin Rosen, don the winged suits and jump off the building's 84th floor (1,000 feet high). The pair glide several miles between skyscrapers before they unleash a small parachute to land on a freighter in Victoria Harbor. ________ several miles from 1000ft? _______ Eriksson and Rosen practiced for months and jumped 28 times from the building. There were many unexpected difficulties, De Bont says. For instance, most skydiving scenes are filmed by a third skydiver who wears a camera on his head. But the helmet-cam skydiver weighed significantly more, so he dropped much faster than the jumpers in featherweight flying suits. The crew ended up filming from helicopters — another difficulty, because the slightest wind gust can send the jumpers into an unexpected direction. __________ weighed more? featherweight suit? (not an option on my suit, what about anti matter) ___________ The suits are intended only for low-altitude jumps, De Bont says, and allow a wearer to glide for about 3 miles. The suits are equipped with only one parachute — no backup. ______________ suits only for low alti jumps? or the parachutes? hahahha _________ damn wuffo's!!!!!!!!!!!!!Leroy ..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #9 July 23, 2003 Good Lord, that articles is so far off, I wouldn't know where to begin. I might start with incorrect credit to the suit's design..."¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #10 July 23, 2003 QuoteCroft (Angelina Jolie) and her sidekick, Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler), reach the top of Hong Kong's Two International Finance Center skyscraper with the bad guys in pursuit. Their stand-ins, jumpers Per Eriksson and Martin Rosen, don the winged suits and jump off the building's 84th floor (1,000 feet high). The pair glide several miles between skyscrapers before they unleash a small parachute to land on a freighter in Victoria Harbor. ________ several miles from 1000ft? _______ They didn't actually wear the suits for the BASE jump, either. HAHAHAHAAHAHAA @ "...the slightest wind gust can send the jumpers into an unexpected direction.""¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #11 July 23, 2003 Quote Jolie, an accomplished skydiver, asked several times to try out the flying suit. "But because of insurance, they didn't let me do certain things," she says. "That upset me." Accomplished? Did I miss something? Was she on the 300-way or did she win a gold medal in skysurfing or something when I wasn't looking?quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #12 July 23, 2003 Yeah, I'd like to see her try a Skyflyer for her first wingsuit flight."¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeedToJump 0 #13 July 23, 2003 QuoteYeah, I'd like to see her try a Skyflyer for her first wingsuit flight. She'd be fine, she's famous... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #14 July 23, 2003 QuoteQuote Jolie, an accomplished skydiver, asked several times to try out the flying suit. "But because of insurance, they didn't let me do certain things," she says. "That upset me." Accomplished? Did I miss something? Was she on the 300-way or did she win a gold medal in skysurfing or something when I wasn't looking? Clearly she accomplished at least one skydive Why so critical, Q? She vote for GWB or something? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbarnhouse 0 #15 July 23, 2003 QuoteWas she on the 300-way or did she win a gold medal in skysurfing or something when I wasn't looking? You mean it wasn't her? My world is shattered..think I'll go pull my cord after I jump at low altitude with a featherweight suit Anybody care to join me ? I'm not accomplished but hey...it might be fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #16 July 23, 2003 QuoteShe'd be fine, she's famous... And she has her own built in air bags in case of an emergency landing"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeedToJump 0 #17 July 23, 2003 QuoteAnd she has her own built in air bags in case of an emergency landing So would that make her more floatly and fall slower or more aerodynamic and fall faster? Or did you mean those inflated lips she's got? Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #18 July 23, 2003 Quote Clearly she accomplished at least one skydive I'm not completely certain of that. Might just be media hype. Remember, she has a slightly skewed view of the world and may actually believe she did the BirdMan BASE stunt at this point. I mean, if you read the interviews she's been giving, it certainly -sounds- like she believes it. QuoteWhy so critical, Q? She vote for GWB or something? Oh no. I'm a equal opportunity debunker. The whole actor/poser/stuntperson thing kind of pisses me off. I've seen her do a couple of interviews now where she leaves that impression. I have no doubt that it's a very cool film or that she looks great doing it, but for her to even imply that she had anything to do with the real stunt work . . . well, that's just silly.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevin922 0 #19 July 23, 2003 I already emailed (and got a response) from the author of that article.. i'm in the process of setting everything straight :-) Kevin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #20 July 23, 2003 You, too? I e-mailed the editor... just had to."¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevin922 0 #21 July 23, 2003 QuoteYou, too? I e-mailed the editor... just had to. Well I work literally less than 2 blocks from the USA Today Headquarters, i've offered to stop by and show her the suit and whatnot. Kevin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbarnhouse 0 #22 July 23, 2003 Quotei've offered to stop by and show her the suit and whatnot. BB chuckles at the thought bwahhhhhh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #23 July 23, 2003 "do you want to see my wing thingie?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #24 July 23, 2003 I will be sitting in the lobby of the Carmike theater on Friday afternoon for the premier of the new Tomb Raider movie. I am taking my SF-3 and my BM rig, a TV/VCR with all my wingsuit movies, and a display for what we have at our dropzone. I am thinking that my gear will be incredibly popular with the whuffos and paratroopers. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #25 July 23, 2003 Be sure to slam about 3 red bull and vodkas before hand that way it won't hurt when you base off of the table onto the theatre floor"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
